"Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" or in the original "Lovely Geum-ja" is grossly funny, bitterly satirical, with a huge portion of pitch-black, bone-dry, unpredictable humor. The KMovie playfully juggles with details that seem to have sprung from a film noir and, above all, deliberately wants to irritate with the aestheticizing stylization of bloodthirsty revenge.

Geum-ja is an Angel of revenge in the most literal sense. Luminous, angelic in her kindness, yet consistently deadly when it comes to her revenge mission. This makes the KMovie a paradoxical, incomparable experience: bizarre, absurd, dark and yet pointedly funny.

It´s is Girl power time! Patriarchy is in the pillory, regarding various offenses and arrogance of most of the male characters. Geum-ja (convincing to the point: Lee Young-ae) offers the entire program of associations with the feminine in its blatant contradictions: saint, whore, witch, as well as mother, lover, friend. Guilty in naive innocence. Outrageous. Diabolical. Sovereign. Powerful. Decided. Efficient. Exhilarated. Significantly, a remix of Vivaldi's "Ah ch'infelice semper" swings the baton in the background.

Storytelling is always close to Geum-ja. Not too much, just as much as is needed, is given to the audience. A serious, deeply meaningful off-screen narrator closes the gaps. As I said, the humor is pitch-black.

By the way, the KMovie (which has also received many international awards) is the third part of a revenge trilogy by director Park Chan-wook, which includes "Oldboy", that is considered one of the most influential films of contemporary South Korean cinema.